Method converts petroleum to hydrogen and produces little CO₂

Petroleum is a relatively inexpensive, abundant, and convenient source of energy. One of the biggest drawbacks to using it as fuel is that doing so generates copious amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Researchers in the U.K. and Saudi Arabia have taken a step toward mitigating that problem by demonstrating a CO₂-free method for converting petroleum samples to high-purity hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel, and solid carbon, which can be stored underground safely or used commercially. Currently, most hydrogen comes from steam reforming methane, an energy-intensive process that produces a lot of CO₂. Developed by Peter P. Edwards of the University of Oxford, John M. Thomas of the University of Cambridge, and coworkers, the new method uses microwaves to directly energize a low-cost iron nanoparticle catalyst, as opposed to using conventional heating, in which the heated fuel activates the catalyst (Energy Environ. Sci. 2018, DOI: 10.1039/c8ee02444h). Tests on diesel, gasoline, and methane show that the microwaves immediately generate gas, more than 90% of which is hydrogen. For heavy crude samples, the purity is roughly 80%. In contrast, the same catalyst, heated conventionally, converted diesel to 65% hydrogen and a mixture of alkanes, alkenes, and other gases.